Winery News

There’s a lot happening in Niagara-on-the-Lake wine country.

Radio Noir series at Trius Winery

NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE — Step back in time at Trius Winery during a new series that will take guests back to the golden age of radio.

Trius Red presents The Radio Noir Series, a four-part series of performances that features stories of mystery, romance and suspense, complete with live sound effects and music. Barbara Worthy, who is producing the project alongside Patty Jamieson, says it will be a great chance for audiences to enjoy a series of performances all based on the old-time radio performances.

“We’ll be in costume based on the period. It will be a dramatic reading where we will be taking you into a set that will be what a real radio station would have been like,” explains Worthy. “You will be able to hear and watch how they recorded them in the ‘40s and ‘50s.”

Worthy said she met with Trius and talked to them about various projects she worked with the museum on, and a production of It’s A Wonderful Life she staged with Lyndesfarne Theatre a few years ago.

“We talked about doing It’s A Wonderful Life, but I pitched them on the series based on golden-age radio classics,” she said. “With Trius having its fantastic noir red blends, it was a perfect fit.”

Things open up with Laura on Friday, Oct. 28, the story of a police detective who falls in love with the women whose murder he is investigating. It then continues through November and into December with productions of The Thin Man on Nov. 4, Murder on the Orient Express on Nov. 25 and the performance of It’s a Wonderful Life on Dec. 9.

Doors open for each performance at 7:15 p.m., with the performances beginning at 8. Tickets are $40 a person per show, which includes glass of wine and snacks, for the opening three, while the final performance of It’s a Wonderful Life is $47 a person. Tickets are available at Trius, online at triuswines.com or you can call 905-458-7123.

Worthy said it will be great talent, with performers either current Shaw Festival actors or alumni. It’s also a great location, she said, giving audiences a chance to enjoy entertainment surrounded by the vineyards.

“It’s a nice showcase for anyone to come out and enjoy,” Worth said. “It’s bringing something back that is a love for performers and is something fun.”

Community members have helped step up to help stage the event, from Trius providing the space, to those helping with sound, to Doug Mundy performing on piano.

Worthy said she hopes the performances will take off, adding she would love to expand on the effort with future series should it prove popular.

Scott RostsScott Rosts is group managing editor for Niagara this Week. Email him at srosts@niagarathisweek.com or follow on Twitter and Facebook.